'Game of Thrones' Stars Explain That Sansa, Littlefinger Look

There were several little loaded looks between characters in the final episode of "Game of Thrones" Season 6, and you may have a different interpretation of them than the actors themselves. That's OK, but in case you were wondering, Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) and Aidan Gillen (Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish) shared their perspectives on the glance Sansa and Littlefinger exchanged after Jon Snow was declared the new King in the North.

In the scene, Sansa tells Jon that only a fool would trust Littlefinger. Later, she meets with Littlefinger and he paints this picture of himself on the Iron Throne, with Sansa at his side. She rejects him in the moment, but when Jon is crowned King in the North, Sansa and Littlefinger exchange a look. What is Sansa thinking about Littlefinger's pitch by the end of the episode?

"As you say, she rejects him in the beginning, but there's definitely something in her that's ... it's kind of a jealousy toward Jon. He's getting all of the credit for basically Sansa saving his ass. Obviously he played a huge part in the Battle of the Bastards, but Sansa really saved him. There's a bit of jealousy there. She looks at Littlefinger knowing that he would have put her as Queen in the North, and given her the credit she deserves. I don't think she's gunning for the Iron Throne anytime soon, but she realizes that Littlefinger might be a better ally than she thought, a more trustworthy ally than she thought. [...] I think she'll forever be wary of Littlefinger. But I think she realizes now that he's more loyal to her than she initially thought. He's tried to prove that. If he truly is loyal to her, then he's a wonderful, wonderful ally to have. But she'll forever be skeptical and wary of his motives. She's not stupid enough to follow him blindly."

What's going through Sansa's mind in those final moments as Jon's being declared King in the North?

"She's not getting the credit she feels she deserves, that Littlefinger would grant her with. He obviously wants her on the Iron Throne and him by her side – she doesn't want that, but she wants recognition for the effort that she put in, in order to claim back Winterfell, because if it wasn't for her, it wouldn't have happened. So I think she's seeing Littlefinger as a bit more trustworthy and more of an ally than she initially thought."

Aidan Gillen also tackled the subject, taking a broader view in his Q&A with Vulture:

A few characters give each other some ambiguous glances full of subtext, such as the one between Jaime and Cersei. What's behind the look in that Sansa and Littlefinger exchange, when Jon becomes king in the North?

"As an actor, I never say, 'This is what I'm trying to say here ...' I don't want you to know what I'm thinking. Actors tend to not tell each other what they're up to, and it wasn't really discussed when we shot it. But when I was looking at Jaime watching Cersei, I was asking myself the same question! 'What is he thinking?' Personally, I like ambiguity. It gives you something to think about during the hiatus.

We only had a few scenes with Littlefinger in season six. But one thing he was trying to do consistently was sow some kind of seed of disquiet with Sansa in terms of Jon, and how closely related they really are, and how valid he really is as a king, or a leader, or a brother, while at the same time encouraging what might be her own position. There's a certain amount of, 'I told you so. Is this what you want? Can you trust him?' And all of that has been said anyway, in the previous scene. But there's also a degree of excitement, because the lords are pledging their allegiance to Jon Snow, and we didn't necessarily know it would go that way. Speaking for Littlefinger, it was one of those moments where you go, 'F*ck! Maybe this is a bigger thing than I thought it would be. How are we going to deal with this?' Given that he enjoys chaos and uncertainty and the thrill of all of that, it was a big moment for him."

To be fair, Jon never asked for this or any power -- he just wanted to be First Ranger like his Uncle Benjen (fat lot of good that did Uncle Benjen). But Jon just keeps getting handed the top jobs everywhere he goes. He wanted to give Sansa credit as "the Lady of Winterfell," and it's understandable that Sansa would be frustrated that she keeps being brushed aside.

Sansa has taken some fair heat for not telling Jon about her SOS letter to Littlefinger and the Knights of the Vale, but it's not like she could know if/when the army would arrive to help. We never saw her get a return raven saying, "Sounds good, see you Friday around 5." How would she know the knights would show up right when the battle was almost lost -- it's almost like they timed the drama for a TV show! -- but she should've told Jon she wrote to him so they could wait a bit more and hope for the best.